From Little Seeds, Larger Minds Grow Cuts In Funding Jeopardize Labs

December 3, 1985

Elaine Nemeth`s fifth-grade class at Mirror Lake Elementary School in Plantation spent two days planting, potting, digging, weeding and cleaning. Nemeth was finally able to use a grant she received two years ago for environmental education.

The new garden, which had been waiting on a fence all that time, so far has been sown with palm seeds, a passion plant, a pineapple, miniature royal poinciana and a mystery plot, full of seeds of unknown origin.

Students scraped away in the mystery garden`s black sludge with white plastic spoons, careful not to damage the one palm shoot starting to rise from the soil.

``There is a lot of satisfaction and happiness in watching things grow,`` Nemeth said. ``Kids love to know `I planted that.` It gives them a lot of pride and dignity.``

Sabrina Lewis, 10, is thrilled to work in the garden with the plants. Her friend Paula Rich, also 10, likes it when they come across worms and frogs ``and stuff like that.``

But teachers` ability to create outdoor classrooms like this may soon be a thing of the past. The state Legislature eliminated funding for the environmental education program and its so-called minigrant program at its last session.

The minigrants gave schools and teachers grants averaging $1,500 to $2,500 for projects to improve environmental education. It wasn`t enough to pay for a complete project, but enough to provide seed money.

The grants could be used by teachers in different ways -- to start up an outdoor classroom, or develop an environment curriculum guide, or make slide presentations. In fact, more were used to develop curricula and programs than for outdoor classrooms, said former Broward County schools assistant science supervisor Jim Carswell, who handled the grant applications for Broward County.

Teachers often focus on teaching students about South Florida`s unique environment and drinking water supply. South Florida`s water supply is fragile and the population migratory, making it difficult for South Floridians to appreciate the environment, educators say.

``That has been an important subject in several of the minigrant proposals,`` Carswell said. ``(The minigrants) provided a beneficial thing, plus allowed teachers to become creative. That is not available to them any other way.``

The most concrete and obvious use was outdoor classrooms, usually in elementary schools and sometimes middle schools. When a school used the start- up money, other things always seemed to happen: the community would pitch in to build the gardens, fences and structures; merchants would donate materials; and teachers would find unusual ways to use the outdoor classrooms for subjects besides science -- creative writing, art, math, reading.

Teachers and principals deplore the state`s decision to ax the environment program. A coalition of environmental educators is planning strategies to upgrade environmental education, not only in schools but also for the public, because of Florida`s unusual ecology.

``Whoever writes a textbook quite often has not written about South Florida,`` said Bill Haynes, science teacher at Fort Lauderdale High School. ``Anything south of Okeechobee is different . . . the hydrology is different. As a result, very few people understand how it works.``

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How did these grants help schools?

Maplewood Elementary in Coral Springs was fortunate -- it got its grant under the wire. One more year and teachers would have been out of luck.

While one school focuses on native plants and another focuses on gardening, Maplewood is teaching its students about native birds.

The first bird house, for purple martins, was set up in November and, with the trees surrounding the school as well as nearby Sherwood Forest, teachers expect to see many species of birds, said teacher Jeanne Kraus.

For Maplewood`s award-winning writing program, the teachers are using the outdoor shelters, which are large enough to house two classes at a time, for writing inspiration.

``We`re very excited about the things we`re going to do,`` Kraus said. ``The children appreciate the wildlife. It`s a really unique place for writing. Teachers have been out there a lot and plan to use it for artwork, for creative writing, listening-type exercises. It`s going to be used for everything.``

Miles from the seashore and about as distant from the Everglades, a coastal sand dune and a swamp of sawgrass lie nearly side by side.

This little miracle of nature was created by and for the students at Lake Forest Elementary School in unincorporated Broward, just west of Pembroke Park.

``We`ve seen all kinds of things we never had before,`` Principal Frances Lewis said. ``We`re trying to get some birds back. The maintaining is the hard part. There is no money for it now.``

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Not everyone has used the grants to establish outdoor classrooms. Educators could experiment and create, something not many teachers usually get financial backing to do.